The Africa Initiative will work through States Parties and the African World Heritage Foundation to identify archaeological sites in Africa of exceptional historical and scientific merit. We will facilitate inclusion of these sites on Tentative Lists, and some, at the digression of States Parties, might be nominated to the World Heritage List.

Below are symposium abstracts and links to presentations by ICAHM Co-Presidents Douglas Comer (USA) and Willem J.H. Willems (the Netherlands), as well as links to key documents that should be taken into consideration by those suggesting sites of exceptional merit. Please email all suggestions to africa@icahm.icomos.org.

Session Abstract
The Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, commonly known as the World Heritage Convention, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Heritage_Site – cite_note-2 was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on November 16, 1972. It has since been ratified by 186 countries (“states parties”), more than any other international convention.
The Convention established a World Heritage Committee, composed of representatives of 21 states parties, who are elected at a General Assembly held every three years. The World Heritage Committee maintains the World Heritage List of places possessing “outstanding universal significance.” In 2009, there were 890 World Heritage Sites, of which 689 are cultural, 176 are natural, and 25 are mixed properties.

The International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) advises the World Heritage Committee in regard to nominations of cultural sites to the World Heritage List and it monitors these sites once listed. In turn, the International Scientific Committee on Archeological Heritage Management (ICAHM) advises ICOMOS on archaeological sites, which comprise most of the cultural sites.

Designation as a World Heritage Site carries with it great prestige and the potential for considerable economic benefit. Africa as a region has disproportionately few world Heritage Sites. ICAHM is concerned with this disparity because Africa contains many of the archaeological sites that are tremendously important to human evolution and history. For that reason, ICAHM would like to begin discussions about identifying sites that are very likely to be eligible for inscription on the World Heritage List.
In this session, we will provide the pertinent history of the Convention, ICOMOS, and ICAHM; discuss the nomination process and which nominations are most likely to succeed; and outline management strategies that ICAHM economic studies indicate as those most likely to preserve archaeological sites while enhancing economic benefit to local communities and states parties.

The History of World Heritage and Its Relevance to a Global Strategy for Future InscriptionsDouglas C. Comer, Ph.D., RPA (United States)Co-President, ICOMOS International Scientific Committee for Archaeological Heritage Management

A global study carried out by ICOMOS from 1987 to 1993 revealed that Europe, historic towns and religious monuments, Christianity, historical periods and ‘elitist’ architecture (in relation to vernacular) were all over-represented on the World Heritage List; whereas, all living cultures, and especially ‘traditional cultures’, were underrepresented. Despite this, as a recent ICOMOS report notes, “The World Heritage Convention has been dubbed the flagship programme of UNESCO, setting the standard for conventions, instruments and programs for conservation. The number of States Parties to the World Heritage Convention now numbers 186, making its reach nearly universal.” Further, more States Parties have signed this document than have signed any international treaty. To understand better how this situation came about, and how to rectify imbalances in the World Heritage List, it is helpful to know something of the historic events that led to the creation of the List, as well as how ICOMOS, which advises the World Heritage Committee on nominations of cultural sites to the World Heritage List, and on cultural matters in general, is organized. Vital parts of ICOMOS are the scientific committees, which function as wells of expertise from which facts and educated and informed opinion can be drawn. Perhaps the largest of the scientific committees is the International Scientific Committee for Archaeological Heritage Management (ICAHM). This presentation will review the history and organization of the World Heritage Convention, ICOMOS, and ICAHM, and the ways in which ICAHM plans to contribute to the Global Strategy for Future Inscriptions, as well as in supporting inscribed archaeological sites through monitoring and consultation.

This communication suggests a few possibilities for spreading and extending benefits from WHS status – not only in terms of economy and tourism, but also with regards to scientific research and heritage management. Precisely because the inscription of WHS in Africa is so challenging, it is important to incorporate from the onset strategies to enhance capacities in heritage management and research potential beyond the designated site as such, to the country and the region as a whole.

A Strategic Approach to the Nomination of Archaeological Sites
to the World Heritage List Prof. dr. Willem J.H. Willems, RPA (The Netherlands)Co-President, ICOMOS International Scientific Committee for Archaeological Heritage Management

On 27–29 April 2010, the UNESCO World Heritage Center and the UNESCO Bangkok Office organized an Expert meeting on “Upstream Processes to Nominations: Creative Approaches in the Nomination Process”, in Phuket, Thailand. The meeting was intended to stimulate creative approaches to reduce the number of properties that experience significant problems in the nomination process. As noted in the minutes of this meeting: “States Parties spend considerable time and money developing nominations which may be delayed or unsuccessful. The Advisory Bodies … are constrained in their ability to help by the adequacy of resources, and some World Heritage processes could better facilitate opportunities for them to render assistance.” In the past eighteen months, the ICOMOS the International Scientific Committee for Archaeological Heritage Management (ICAHM) has reorganized to better participate in the “upstream process.” An important aspect of this effort is to broaden ICAHM membership in order to assure input from appropriate experts, and to stimulate discussion and scholarly research in support of this process. This paper will describe some the ways that we would like to pursue this, and also provide information about how to improve the probability that a nomination to the World Heritage List will be successful.

Latest News

09.01.2019

The UNESCO-Greece Melina Mercouri International Prize for the Safeguarding and Management of Cultural Landscapes was created in 1995 to reward outstanding examples of action to safeguard and enhance the world’s cultural landscapes, a category of World Heritage.The next Prize will be awarded in Autumn 2019, in connection with the 40th Session of the UNESCO General Conference.The online form must be submitted in English or French, between 30 November 2018 and 30 April 2019 (midnight Paris time) at: http://whc.unesco.org/en/news/1915/

For more information on the criteria and selection process for the nominations for the Melina Mercouri International Prize 2019, please open the attached leaflet in English or French or visit: http://whc.unesco.org/en/culturallandscapesprize

01.01.2019 Happy New Year!

ICAHM wishes you all the best for 2019.

02.11.2018 Thank you!

Thank you to all participants of the 2018 ICAHM Annual Meeting - Discover Sicily’s Argimusco – a Holistic Approach to Heritage Management on October 25-28, 2018 at the beautiful castle of Montalbano Elicona.
Your presence helped to make this event a great success and your enthusiasm and positive spirit helped make our time together both productive and fun. We wish you all the best and hope to meet you again at the next ICAHM Meeting!

ICAHM is deeply saddened by the news of Henry Cleere’s passing. Henry Cleere was one of the founding fathers of ICAHM and authors of the 1990 ICAHM Lausanne Charter for the Protection and Management of the Archaeological Heritage. Henry Cleere has been an inspiration for all those involved in archaeological heritage management and he will be deeply missed. We wish his family and loved ones much strength in this difficult time.

24.08.2018 -Feasible Management of Archaeological Heritage Sites Open to Tourism

What do we need to know, what facilities, agreements, and relationships should be in place before an archaeological site is open to the public? Such are the questions that must be addressed to make sustainable management of the site feasible.